Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. Acquires 7,100 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,100 shares during the period. Valero Energy comprises 2.7% of Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $23,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $705,502,000 after buying an additional 209,597 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 42,376 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,898,000 after acquiring an additional 10,634 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $954,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 359.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 14,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,319,000 after acquiring an additional 11,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $3,249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total transaction of $1,776,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,242 shares in the company, valued at $6,453,629.80. This represents a 21.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VLO shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $255.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.59.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO opened at $259.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $130.78 and a fifty-two week high of $265.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $246.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. The company had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.